McDonough closes testimony by telling off defense attorney

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 11:14 AMJun 12, 2014 at 11:14 AM

By Kimberley Haaskhaas@fosters.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story contains graphic descriptions of sex and/or violence that some readers may find offensive.
DOVER — As public defender Joachim Barth closed out his cross-examination of key witness Kathryn "Kat" McDonough this morning, McDonough shot back and told him off.
Barth finished questioning McDonough by asking her about what she described as an addiction to sex.
Barth said McDonough, 20, told employees at his office that she was a sex addict when she came in seeking help for her boyfriend, Seth Mazzaglia, on Oct. 15, 2012.
He was arrested on Oct. 13 after he admitted to police that he killed Elizabeth "Lizzi" Marriott on Oct. 9.
Mazzaglia is on trial for first-degree murder at Strafford County Superior Court.
'You said you were a sex addict, correct?" Barth asked.
"Yep, I did say that," McDonough replied. "They were just words I guess."
McDonough said numerous times on the stand that the story she told to public defenders was a false account of what actually happened on the night Marriott died because she wanted to protect Mazzaglia.
"I was trying to take some of the responsibility so it wasn't all on him," McDonough said.
McDonough told the attorneys and an investigator at the public defender's office that after a game of strip poker and some nude dancing, Marriott engaged in a consensual threesome using a rope harness McDonough tied onto her. McDonough said Marriott died after being sat upon for 10 to 15 minutes.
Barth, who has been noticeably aggravated by McDonough's answers at points during her cross-examination, expressed anger about McDonough's two versions of what happened that night. McDonough has remained insistent throughout the trial that Mazzaglia strangled Marriott from behind after she refused to kiss McDonough or watch Mazzaglia and McDonough have sex.
When Barth was questioning McDonough about the game of strip poker she and Mazzaglia allegedly played with Marriott on the night of the murder, he raised his voice and asked, "Does that make you a really good liar then or a better liar now?"
McDonough said she has been telling the truth during the trial, which she described a as a "very different situation."
"This is me telling the truth," McDonough said. "This is me fixing as many broken things that I can fix."
Barth ended his cross examination by reminding the jurors of all the lies McDonough told police, witnesses and the employees at his office.
He then closed by saying McDonough had no appreciation for Marriott's life.
"Ms. McDonough, I don't have any further questions for you," Barth said.
That’s when McDonough spoke up.
She said Barth had no idea what she has been through, having to keep quiet before the trial.
"I don't see how you can say that. You don't know me. You don't know what I have been through. You have your ideas, but I have spent so much time trying to understand this. I have spent all this time not being able to say anything to anyone because I had to keep quiet because this was before the trial so I wasn't allowed to say anything because it was before the trial. Of course I think about her, but I haven’t been able to say anything yet. This is just the beginning where I can actually explain what really happened to her."